Tie-joint



W. LIVINGSTONE.

TIE JOINT.

No. 530,281. Patented Dec. 4,1894.

INVENTR ATTORNEY 45 UNITE STATES 1 PATENT FFICE.

WILLIAM LIVINGSTONE, OF FLUSHING, NEW YORK.

TIE-JOINT.

SPECIFICATION forming. part of Letters Patent No. 530,281, datedDecember,4,1 894 Application filed July 18. 1 894- Serial No. 517,861-(No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM LIVINGSTONE, a citizen of l the UnitedStates, residing at Flushing, in the county of Queens and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tie-Joints;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to a tie-joint for the contained in or form part ofthe members or' pieces that make up the frames and which are adapted tobe put together without fitting and secured without extraneous devices.

In the accompanying drawings:--Figure 1 represents in perspective aframe composed of upright and horizontal members or pieces connectedtogether by means of my improved tie-joint and forming a rectangularframe.

Fig. 2 is a plan of the frame; Fig. 3, an enlarged detail view of thetie-joint; Fig. 4, an enlarged view of an end of one of the horizontalmembers showing a notch which forms an element in the tie-joint.

Referring to the drawings, A designates the uprights of the frame work,which may be round in cross-section as shown, or square or of otherpolygonal figure if preferred or desired.

B B designate members whose ends are conjoined and tied together and toan upright A. The upright members have staples S inserted in them inline with each course or set of horizontal members which compose thesides, parts or sections of the frame. These staples may be on theexterior surface of the uprights, but in some cases they may be placedinside. As shown in the drawings they are ;to each other.

placed outside whereby the tiejoints are formed on the exterior of thecorners of the frame, whereas by placing the staples in an oppositeposition, that is, projecting inwardly,

the tie-joints will fall on the inside of the frame-work. Each of thesemodes of placing the tie-joint is specially adapted to certain,

kinds of frames, and one or the other will be used as circumstances andthe particular article to be made shall require.

. To make the tie-joint T the members B B the adjoining ends of the saidmembers are passed through the staples one above the other and crossingeach other at an angle corresponding to the angle of the sidesof theframe the horizontal members are all passed through the staples'of "thecorner uprights as shown} in Fig. 1 each of the said members has twobearing points, viz., against the periphery or adjacent tangential pointa of the upright, and the'inner or keeperside b of the staple. Thus asthe ends of the members B B cross each other in the staple, the keeperside b is held in the angle between the two ends while the upright isheld in the inside angle formed by the two members and a tie-joint isformed between each of the horizontal members and the uprights at thecorners. When all the corners are thus formed and two or more lines ofhorizontal members are connected with the uprights a frame is formed orerected which is strong and self-fastening. The members B B bear againstthe points a b with sufficient force to give firmness and stability tothe joint and thereby to make the frame when completed stiff and rigid.

When the adjoining ends of,

The application of this invention to the may be tapered if required bymaking the horizontal members of the upper or lower planes longer orshorter. By properly adj usting the length of the staples S with respectto the periphery of the uprights, that is, by making the distance fromthe center of the upright to the inside of the keeper side I) of thestaple a little less than the distance from the same point to thetangential point a a slight pressure will be required to pass the endsof the members B B through the staples and the additional friction thusproduced and the elasticity of the members will make the joints strongerand the frame more rigid and inflexible. A still firmer and strongerjoint can be made by a provision of making the ends of the horizontalpieces 13 B at the points of contact with the upright recessed as at R,either circular if the uprights are round, or square if that is the formof the uprights. By this an absolute correctness of making the framealways the same will be attained, and the stiffness and rigidity of thesame will be increased by reducing the lateral strain of tearing thehorizontal pieces out of their bearing in the staples.

In the case of all the tie-joints shown in Fig. 2, this recess is formedin the pieces B B as the preferred, though not necessarily theinvariable, form. Where used it is obvious that the pieces B B cannotslip lengthwise and thereby break the joint.

I claim- 1. A tie-joint for frames consisting of an upright providedwith a staple projecting radially or diagonally therefrom, andhorizontal members having their adjoining ends passed through thestaples from opposite sides of the upright and crossing each otherbetween the staple and upright and bearing against tan gential parts ofthe uprights and the keeper side of the staple, thereby forming anglesbetween which the staples and uprights are held, substantially asspecified.

2. A tie-joint for frames consisting of an upright provided with astaple projecting radially or diagonally therefrom, and horizontalpieces having their adjoining ends, which are provided with recesses,passed through the staples at right angles to each other from oppositesides of the upright, and with the recesses embracing the upright,thereby forming angles between which the staples and uprights are held,substantially as specified.

3. A structure composed of corner uprights provided with radially ordiagonally projecting staples and horizontal members having adjoiningends passed through the staples in the uprights from opposite sides ofthe upright and bearing against tangential points of the uprights andthe keeper sides of the staples, whereby the staples and uprights ofeach corner of the structure are held between the horizontal members andthe several uprights are bound together by the horizontal members,substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the invention above set forth I affix mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM LIVINGSTONE.

Witnesses:

WILTON O. DONN, FREDK. HAYNES.

